Content:

(FR, B) Moral worldview which is based on Islam & free of offensive elements.

Summary:

THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES is a movie-within-a-movie that documents the encounter of an Iranian film crew with the country folk of earthquake-devastated northern Iran. Western audiences will miss certain points because some of the plot depends on knowledge of contemporary Iran. Despite these difficulties, THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES is a charming but slow film that will intrigue filmgoers who are patient enough to accept its subtle style.

Review:

THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES is a movie-within-a-movie that documents the encounter of an Iranian film crew with the country folk of earthquake-devastated northern Iran. Although there are many plot excursions about the process of movie-making in a remote area, the film is basically the story of Hossein, an illiterate former stonemason turned actor, who wishes to marry his co-star, the educated and stubborn Tahereh. Unfortunately, Tahereh's grandmother has forbidden Tahereh to wed Hossein, which creates great awkwardness for the entire crew as the shooting proceeds.

Written and directed by Abbas Kiarostami, the dean of Iranian filmmaking, THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES is Iran's entry in the Best Foreign Film category for the upcoming Academy Awards. The filmmaker has the curious habit of pulling his stories from his own movie-making experiences, and this one is based on a film he made in an earthquake-destroyed part of Iran. Consequently, this film has a curious documentary quality, although it contains a great deal of fun playing with true reality and film reality. Western audiences will miss certain points because some of the plot depends on knowledge of contemporary Iran. Even so, THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES is a charming but slow film that will intrigue patient filmgoers.